Angels Make Their Pitch but Instead Suffer Losses

Bill Stoneman went to Dallas hoping to beef up his pitching staff, but on a busy Sunday at the winter meetings, the Angel general manager instead bid a farewell to two arms.

Refusing to add fuel to the skyrocketing market for middle relievers, the Angels lost set-up man Mark Petkovsek, a free-agent right-hander who signed a two-year, $4.9-million contract with the Texas Rangers, a deal that includes two option years that could push the package to $9.9 million.

The Angels added depth to the weakest position in their organization by trading for Cincinnati Red shortstop prospect Wilmy Caceres, but it cost them one of their promising young starting pitchers, right-hander Seth Etherton.

The Angels also signed shortstop Benji Gil, who batted .239 while splitting time with Kevin Stocker last season, to a $350,000 contract with an option for 2002.

Petkovsek, 35, was a key member of an excellent Angel bullpen, going 4-2 with a 4.22 earned-run average and two saves in 64 appearances covering 81 innings. The Angels will receive either a first- or second-round pick and a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds as compensation.

“We wanted Mark back and were prepared to go to a certain extent, but the Rangers went beyond where we were prepared to go,” Stoneman said. “To go to that extent would have taken resources that we can now use on our rotation. At the same time, we pick up a couple of draft picks, which we covet.”

The emergence of relievers Al Levine, who went 3-4 with a 3.87 ERA in 51 appearances; Mike Fyhrie, who had a 2.39 ERA in 32 games; Lou Pote, who had a 3.40 ERA in 32 games, and Ben Weber, who had a 1.84 ERA in 10 games, also made Petkovsek somewhat expendable.

“We have a strong and deep bullpen,” Stoneman said. “We were sending guys to the minor leagues last year who, frankly, didn’t deserve to go.”

The Angels had virtually no depth at shortstop, so they traded Etherton to Cincinnati for Caceres, a 22-year-old from the Dominican Republic who is a solid defender with excellent speed.

The 6-foot, 165-pound switch-hitter batted .268 with two homers, 33 RBIs and 36 stolen bases for double-A Chattanooga last season, and he batted .261 with 52 stolen bases for Class-A Clinton (Iowa) in 1999.

Caceres would benefit from another full season in the minor leagues, where he could polish his defense and improve his pitch selection, but there’s a slim chance he’d play in Anaheim if shortstop Gary DiSarcina doesn’t fully recover from rotator-cuff surgery by opening day.

“Seth wasn’t the guy we sought out to trade,” Stoneman said of Etherton, who went 5-1 with a 5.52 ERA in 11 starts last season. “But we set a priority to shore up the shortstop position in a certain way . . . and it became evident we would have to give him up.

“We wanted [a shortstop] with limited or no major league experience who would be ready in a year or two to help us in the field.”

Etherton, a 24-year-old right-hander, showed considerable poise in 2000 before succumbing to shoulder tendinitis in early August. A first-round pick out of USC in 1998, Etherton resumed throwing last September, but the Angels, using extra caution, declined to activate him.

Ramon Ortiz and Jarrod Washburn are considered the best of the Angels’ young pitching prospects who have reached the big leagues, but Etherton rated very favorably among the rest of the group, which includes Scott Schoeneweis, Matt Wise and Brian Cooper.

“Seth stood a real good chance of being in our rotation next year, and I’d think he stands a good chance of being in the Reds’ rotation,” Stoneman said. “Now we have to fill his shoes.”

The Angels have shown no inclination to bid for high-end free agents, instead focusing their interest on third-tier pitchers such as Steve Trachsel and Jason Bere.

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Staff writer Jason Reid contributed to this story.